Botanical classification: Origanum vulgare cultivar Zorba White.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Origanum plant, botanically known as Origanum vulgare, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Zorba Whitexe2x80x99.
The new Origanum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Steenbergen, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact Origanums with unique flower coloration.
The new Origanum is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of a proprietary selection of Origanum vulgare identified as PH96, not patented. The new Origanum was discovered and selected as a single plant within a population of plants of the selection PH96 in 1997 in a controlled environment in Steenbergen, The Netherlands. The new Origanum was selected on the basis of its compact plant habit and white-colored flowers and light green-colored bracts.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Steenbergen, The Netherlands since 1997, has shown that the unique features of this new Origanum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Zorba White have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment and culture such as temperature, light intensity, and daylength without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Zorba Whitexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Zorba Whitexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact and low spreading plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. Aromatic dark green foliage.
4. White-colored flowers subtended by light green-colored flower bracts.
Plants of the new Origanum differ from plants of the parent selection primarily in plant habit as plants of the new Origanum are much more compact. In addition, flowers of plants of the new Origanum are more conspicuous than flowers of plants of the selection PH96.
Plants of the new Origanum differ from plants of the cultivar 4838, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/171,831, primarily in flower bract color as plants of the cultivar 4838 have red purple-colored flower bracts.
Plants of the new Origanum can be compared to plants of the cultivar Rosenkuppel, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Steenbergen, The Netherlands, plants of the new Origanum and the cultivar Rosenkuppel differed in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Origanum were more vigorous than plants of the cultivar Rosenkuppel.
2. Plants of the new Origanum had dark green-colored leaves whereas plants of the cultivar Rosenkuppel had brownish green-colored leaves.
3. Flower bracts of plants of the new Origanum were light green in color whereas flower bracts of plants of the cultivar Rosenkuppel were dark red in color.